Having A Bad Day

Man is called in to repair a peace of machinery

On an early morning before the sun came up, Paul was up and headed for his favorite cafe, called Bonnie’s Cafe where the coffee was strong and good. He usually had a cup of coffee along with a fresh baked muffin, before starting his day.

Paul was a good size man, standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, and weighed in at 210 pounds. He was a little chunky but because of his height it didn’t show much. He wore blue jeans with denim shirt and a pair of work boots. He was a good guy who was easy to approach when someone needed something. He was well liked.

This morning he walked into the cafe and Bonnie asked him “will it be your usual?” His reply was “yes thank you,” and he headed for a table. Once he was seated Bonnie brought over his coffee and muffin. “What brings you in so early this morning Paul?” She asked and He said “they got a problem down at the shop and I was requested to come in and help straiten up the mess. I guess someone dropped a paperclip into a peace of machinery and it stopped the whole production, so I’m kinda in a hurry and won’t be here long! I’ll make quick work of this muffin and be on my way and can I get a coffee to go please?” “Sure thing darling, I’ll have right up.” Said Bonnie

Once he picked up his coffee he headed out the door, and headed to work to try and find the problem that brought it all to a halt.

As he approached the office and warehouse he could see all the lights were on and the parking lot was full. “This may be one for the books” he thought as he approached the building.

He looked for his boss, and found him by a peace of machinery along with several other people. “What’s going on Bob?” He asked

Bob’s reply was “this dam machine quit working and were not sure why. I think I can see what looks like a paper clip down there but I’m not sure, we’ve tried several different ways to get it out with no luck. I’m hoping you’ll be able to fix the problem soon. This is costing us a fortune while this is down.”

“Ok everyone back too your jobs and let me see what I think the problem is, and what I need to fix it!” Said Paul

He looked over the peace of machinery and kept looking around trying to see what would be the best way to get to what he thought was the problem. He called his Boss over and said “Bob I think I’m going to have to break down a big part of this machine to get to that paperclip. It’s going to take sometime and I can’t tell you how long but you know, I know how important this is”

“Well then get to it” was Bob’s reply and he went back to his office.

Paul went back over the problem peace and called for Jimmy to come over and give him a hand. “I need to pull out this peace and I need you grab here when I pull out the screw, and set it over to the side” Ok replied Jimmy and then what?” “We’ll keep breaking the machine down to try and get to the problem.” Said Paul.

They started working and pulling out the peace he was working on, “that’s not going to do it, and I think we’ll need to pull out this peace also? Said Paul “grab ahold this and well pull it out also” “I can to that and you want it over here also” said Jimmy “sounds good” replied Paul.

“I think I need to go and talk to Bob, Jimmy so I’ll be back in a few minutes.

“Hey Bob can I come in, and I’ll close the door?” Said Paul, “What’s up Paul you looked worried?” I think we’ve got a problem, I’m having a hard time getting to that clip and It’s gonna take a lot longer than I thought and I’m thinking this maybe Sabotage! Are we doing something that somebody else wants to beat us to it? “Not that I’m aware of, replied Bob but I’ll check it out and get some other people involved in what we’re doing.” “Ok I’ll get back to it, but you need to understand this is taking longer than I expected!” “I understand and do your best.” Replied Bob.

Bob contacted a couple of guys he knew and asked them to see If another company was working on the same type of project.

While Paul got back to work, and after examining the area where the paper clip was located he noticed that the gears in the spindle were stripped, and needed to be replaced. “Jimmy I need you again, we need to pull out the spindle and see if we can get a new one? Ok Jimmy take this spindle down to Grinders and see if they have a replacement. While looking around he noticed a spring had broken off, and he could see that was the peace that had gummed up the works. Oh boy I should not have told the boss it might be sabotage! Now that I can get to this spring I can get it out of here and put it all back together.

Bob came back down to check on the progress, and he said to Paul “I heard back from my guys and they don’t know of any other plant working on what were doing.” Paul looked up and replied, “sorry Bob I just saw what caused the problem, a spring broke and it got caught between cogs, I got Jimmy getting the peace we need and I’ll get it back up and running in a couple more hours. Sorry about the Sabotage remark but it looked strange to me!”

“Let’s get this thing back together so we can get back to work, and we’ll discuss the other thing latter.” Replied Bob.

Jimmy showed up with the peace and he stayed and helped Paul getting the machine back together. “Appreciate the help Jimmy, Thank You you’ve done a good job. Let’s turn on this puppy and see if it’s working!”

They turned on the machine and it came to life and started working like it should. “I’m going to tell Bob it’s running and the production line is back at work.” Said Paul to Jimmy “Again thanks for your help!”

Paul headed up to the bosses office and knocked and entered, “I wanted to let you know the machine is back on line and production has begun, and the area has been cleaned up.” Said Paul “and I’m sorry about the Sabotage remark but at the time it didn’t make sense!”

“No harm no foul, the guys I called made inquiries with the other companies and they weren’t making the same thing,. So I didn’t think that was the case. I’m glad you were able to find and fix the problem. I know it took awhile but I think you gave it your best, go home and have a cool one on me.” Said Bob

Paul left and stopped by Bonnies Cafe on the way home. As he walked in the door Bonnie said “hello Paul, you look worn out, what can I get you hon?” A bootle of beer would be fine and something to eat since I haven’t had anything since the muffin this morning! I’ll take a BLT and fries to go.” “Coming right up Paul, we’ll get you on your way!”